Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Ajinkya Rahane responded with a cheeky answer when quizzed about the controversial bat-first decision in their previous match against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2026). The call raised questions since there was rain before which affected the playing conditions.
The pitch was damp after being under covers for most parts and the ball was sticking up as the KKR batters struggled to get going. In just 3.2 overs, KKR lost Finn Allen and Cameron Green cheaply for single-digit scores.
However, Rahane defended the decision when asked about it ahead of their clash against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) today (April 9).
Rahane said during the KKR vs LSG coin toss, “That match didn’t get over, so you never know (smiling).”
Fortunately, for KKR, the match against PBKS got washed out due to poor weather as both teams shared spoils and got one point apiece. The draw also put first points on the board for the three-time champions, who have struggled so far in IPL 2026 with consecutive losses in their first two games against Mumbai Indians (MI) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane(c), Finn Allen, Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Navdeep Saini, Kartik Tyagi
KKR Impact Subs: Manish Pandey, Vaibhav Arora, Tejasvi Dahiya, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert
Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Manimaran Siddharth, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Prince Yadav
LSG Impact Subs: Ayush Badoni, Matthew Breetzke, Shahbaz Ahmad, Mayank Yadav, Himmat Singh
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Ajinkya Rahane has been drawing quite some attention with his comments this season. After the first game against MI, when asked about why Cameron Green did not bowl, he replied ‘ask Cricket Australia (CA)’ which prompted the board to issue a reply.
Next, when pressed about his batting in a press conference, Rahane highlighted that he possesses one of the best strike-rates in T20 cricket, which also became a debatable topic.
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